Process of manufacturing wrought iron or steel.



PATETBD DEG.' 24, 190'7.

- J. A; POTTER. -PEocEssloE MANUEAGTUETNG wEoUGHT IRON 0E STEEL.

APPLICATION FILED DE. 13. 1906.

l 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' WITNESSES;

t mi .v

INVENTOR, /MVE Praz.,

Adm; .74 a/mfa,

. ATTORNEY.

facturing Wrought iron an -JoHN A. rorrnn, or Los ANGELES, cAriroRNIA.

ROGESS 0F MANUFACTURING WROUGHI IRON OR STEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Dec. 2a, reo?.

Application filed December 13, 1906. Serial No.34=7,607.`

To all whom it 'may coricervzr` Be it known that I, JOHN A. POTTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angelesand State of Californiia'have inventedvnevv and useful Improvements in Processes of Manufacturing Wrought Iron or Steel, of Which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to a rocess of manuall grades of steel, the object of the invention being to produce Wrought iron and steel direct from iron ore, thereby greatly cheapening and simplifying its production.

n the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of an apparatus by means of which my improved process may be carried out; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same on the laine 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 on a somewhat larger scale; Fig. 4 is a similar section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates a furnace, formed with a bed or hearth 2 oi' magnesite or othersuitable material. into this Jfurnace is fed by an inclined chute lor former 8 the pulverized ore 4. This ore may be mixed With suitable'lluxes and reducing material such as pulverized limestone, fluorspar, asphaltum, slack coal, peat, vegetable matter, animal excreta and other organic refuse, colre, charcoal or other hydrocarbonaceous, or carbonaceous materials or fluxes, such as are capable of generating a hydrocarbonaceous or carbonaceous reducing gas to consume the oxygen in the ores and protect the freed articles of metal from oxldation, and are algo adapted to form a binder to hold the ores intact, While protruding into the reducing and melting zones of the furnace. However, hydrocarbonaceous or carbonaceous .materials may be omitted, and l the pulverized ore and lluxes may be led loose into the furnace, the front end of the 5 ture slowlypasses out ofthe former 3, and on to the inclined bed 2 of the furnace, and its face is thus exposed to thegmeltin heataobtained frein the combustion of fuel 1n the furnace melting chamber.' i The fuel used to obtain the melting heatis preferably, fluid, and especially hot comv ustible gas. As a cdnvenient means of obtaining the combustible gas formelting and reduction, there is here shown a speciali constructed still, It is to be` understood however, that the. method of obtaining the* gas forms no part of my present invent-ioni Around the stack 9, which carries off the productsA ofA combustion, is `a casin 10,

spaced therefrom to form an annular c farn-A ber or still 11. chamber 11 by means' of a pipe 12, is distilled bythe heat of the stack, the as haltum settling to the bottom ofthe still, t e heavy oils resting' above the asphaltum, While the medium and light oils are converted into gases. The liquid residues can be ,tapped olf from time to time by ipes 13.

The gas disti ed by the -heat ofthe stack asses by a Lripe 15 to one of two branches 16,'

Crude oil, supplied to'this I veading to opposite -sides of the furnace, la valve 17 being provided to change the loW of the gas from one of said branches to the other.

Each branch terminates in front of slil the port 18 of a conduit 19, which conduits 'are used alternatively as air conduits andas passages for the Waste gases. Said conduits ead to the stack 9, dampers 20 being adapted to be interposed between said passages and the stack, and air valves 21 being a so provided to'admit the air for combustion. he valve 21 and dam )er 20 on each side of the stack are connecte by a chain 22 passing over a iulley 23 so that-When the damper is open t e valve lis closed and conversely. Open Work refractory material 24 is arranged in each conduit 19 so that said conduits can act asregenerators.

A pipe 25 extends transversely through bod of ore and lluxes then finding its natl the bed of the furnace at the top thereof and ura slo e in the furnace melting chamber. adjacent to the lower lip of the mouth of the The re ucing agent Woulddthen be in a former. Said pipe is formed with upwardly Wholly gaseous form. I opening periorations 26, and is connected The mixture is fed by any suitable means l with the pipe 15 containing hot combustible into a hopper 5 discharging into thc former reducing gas, derived from the still. On the 3, and is slowly advanced along said former l opposite side of the furnace to the former is by kmeans of a ram 6 actuated by an eccenarranged the discharge spout 27 ada ted to tric 7 on ashaft 8. By this means, the front or advancing portion ofthe body ofthe mixsuspended in the pit 29. A relief pipe 30.

'reducing gas is havin therein a safety valve 3 1, is connected with t e oil still to permit the escape of the gas when the pressure becomes excessive.

The process is as follows -After there has 'been generated in the stack, by any suitable means, heat sufficient to distil the crude oil, the gas distilled therefrom is conveyed by the p lie 15 and one of the branch pipes 16 to one s1 e ofI the furnace, and is there burned by means of hot air passed through the regenerative channel 19 on the same side, the valve 2,1 at that side beinglopen and the damper 20 closed. At the same time the charge of ore, fluxes and reducing materials, or ore and flux only, is fed intof. along, and through -the former, until the face of the charge is exposed to the melting action of the flames arising from the combustion of the fuel,

Which lamespass over the bed of the furnace l from the port 18 and-conduit 19 on that side, and thence to the'stack 9, the damper 2O on rthat side being o en. Also hot combustible ffdrced through the perfora- .tions 26 in the pipe 25, and then through the front end of the charge in the furnace melting chamber. The heat from the furnace melting chamber, penetrating into the body of the mixture of ore and reducing materials, has the effect of distilling gas from said reducing materials, which gas consumes the oxygen of the ore and produces articles of pure metal, which particles, as t e heat increases by the approach to'the furnace, run together, and form drops of liquid wrought iron or steel. This result is also accom- -plished by the hot reducing gases admitted ere it is allowed to accumulate to any de-.

sired extent, when it is graded to suit the desired pur ose by adding metalloids, etc., to

. perforated the liqui metal by the various means known to the art.

From the above it will be understood that, dependent upon the quality of the ore and ot er conditions, this process may be carried out in any one of four ways. First, the ore may be mixed with hydrocarbonaceous materials, lime, or other fluxes, and reduced by the gases derived from heating said ore and hydrocarbonaceous materials. Second, the ore may be mixed with fluxes and carbonaceous materials and reduced by the carbon gas derived from heating said ore and carhonaceous materials. l Third, thc ores may be mixed with fluxes only, without any reducing materials, and hot reducing gases may he forced through the heated ores and fluxes,

for the purpose ofperiormin the same functions as the gases distilled om the reducing materials, in the ormermethods.A Ur, iourth, both reducing materials together With reducing gases admitted through the pipe maybeadopted at the same time. f

It will be readily understood that the hot reducing gases, whether derived from th e distillation of the hydrocarbonaceous or carbonaceous materials mixed with the ore, or independently injected into the body of ore and caused to permeate therethrough, not

only effects the consumption of the oxygen of the ore, but also continue to protect from oxidation the articles of iron reduced from- 'gas pressure within the reducing and fusing ore 'mixture does not diii'er materially from that of the atmosphere, and it resultsv that the fusing and liuid iron has little tendency under these con itions to absorb hydrocarbon or carbon gas. In the ordinary iron blast furnace, the newly formed and fusing iron absorbs carbon from the carbon gas to the extent of one or two per cent., known as ixed carbon, for the reason that the gas and iron are under considerable pressure within the furnace at the point where the iron is reduced from the ore and becomes liquid. In addition to this, about two per cent. of carbon called graphitic carbon is also absorbed by the liquid lron, owing to its contact -under pressure with the highly incandescent coke which has not yet been gasiiied. Since, in the present process, the metal and the hydrocarbon or carbon gas are not subjected to pressure, and since hydrogen is a principal constituent of one of the reducing gases, substantially no carbon is absorbed by the iron.

In the modification of this. rocess in which hydrocarbonaceous or car onaceous materials are mixed with the ore, a smallpercentage of the resultant solid incandescent carbon will by contact become absorbed by the iron when fusing 'and li nef-ying. Hence, it may be preferable to use t 1e modification just described when it is desired to produce high carbon steel, Whereas, when wrought iron orsoft steel is to be produced, it may be preferable to use to a greater extent the hot reducing hydrocarbon gases supplied direct in a gaseous form, or in. cases whcrc medium carbon steel is desircd the carbon gas may be utilized either singly or in connection with hydrocarbonaccous or carbonaceous materials.

I claim l. The process of manufacturing, direct from iron oxid ore, iron comparatively free from carbon, which consists 1n passing through a furnace the Allames of com ustion of fuel sullicient to melt the iron reduced by the hereinafter recited steps, feeding orc into throu h a furnace the flames of com ustion the hereinafter recited steps, continuously feeding ore into the furnace to expose the the furnaces to expose the advancing surface of the ore to the heat of said Haines, passing reducing gas through the ore and throughits advancing surface into the furnace toreduce the ore7 conducting Qaway together the gaseous products of'said combustion and re-` duction, and collecting the molten products of the reduction, substantially as described.

2. The process. of manufacturing, direct -trom iron oXid ore, iron comparatively free from carbon; which consists in )assing of fue suicient to melt the iron reduced by advancing surface of the ore to the heat of reduction, and continuously collecting the molten products of the reduction, substan-v tially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of tWo subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN A. POTTER.

Vilitnesses:

' M. J. MGGARRY,

l GLADYS BELL. 

